Mathews NOCAM HTR Review

Mathews NOCAM HTR Review

by Kevin Paulson

The Mathews NO CAM HTR is hands-down the quietest and smoothest bow I have had the opportunity to shoot. Within an hour, I was shooting 2-inch groups and falling in love with the best bow I have owned.

Mathews NOCAM HTR Review

The elimination of cams on this bow also provides no nock-drift as you might get on bows with cams. The NO CAM HTR provides a flatter arrow flight and allows more energy to be transferred directly to the arrow, which helps reduce noise and vibration that would come from nock-drift. The addition of twin Harmonic Stabilizers built into this bow, the Dead End String Stop and the Monkey Tail, make this bow super quiet. I encourage anyone in the market to take their current bow, Mathews or otherwise, and shoot it head-to-head beside NO CAM HTR. You will hear the difference.

NO CAM ST technology offers a bow with no cams, allowing one of the smoothest draws on any bow in the market today. There is no jump as you would normally get on a bow with a cam. It just comes back until you hit the back wall and locks into place with a set backwall. Pulling back the bow and locking onto your target is just that much easier. The NO CAM HTR comes with 85%, 75% and 65% let-off. I am currently shooting at 85%. I like to hold the bow at full draw as long as possible when hunting turkey, elk, and deer, so I doubt I will adjust to any other let-off.

Mathews offers the NO CAM HTR in Lost Camo, Lost Camo OT (new for 2015), Black Anthem, Black Tactical, and Stone Tactical. I am shooting the Lost Camo, but I was smitten with the Lost Camo OT after seeing it today at Full Draw Archery.

The NO CAM HTR comes standard with the narrower Focus Grip. This Focus Grip is comfortable and keeps the bow centered in a loose grip. Because I have shot with wooden grips for so long, this is the one feature that will take the most time for me to get used to in shooting this bow. It did not seem to affect how I was shooting the bow in the first session, however.

The NO CAM HTR is just easy to set up as it is to shoot. The bow looks long due to the new design of the riser yet maintains a 32-inch axle-to-axle length. It weighs 4.3 lbs. and has a brace height of just 6 5/8 inches. Draw lengths range from 24 to 30 inches with 1/2 inch increments and peak draw weights are 50, 60, and 70 lbs. I am shooting at 70 lbs. at 29 inches dialed back to 60 lbs. I plan to get this shot through a chronograph in the near future. The NO CAM HTR isn’t the fastest bow I have ever shot, but it is the smoothest and the quietest and to me that is going to put more animals down than pure speed.

I know that this is the bow that I have been seeking for years to propel my shooting to the next level, it really is that good. I am excited to shoot it and while I loved my Mathews Creed XS for it’s aggressive style, I am a better shooter with the NOCAM HTR in my hands.